Struggling with slow picking speeds and warehouse inefficiencies? Zone picking might be your answer. But what is it?
This strategy, also known as “pick and pass” divides your warehouse into zones, each with dedicated pickers assigned to specific SKUs. The pickers will pick items from their assigned zone.
Ready to discover how this strategy works? Find out below.
What is Zone Picking?
Warehouse zoning includes classifying different areas of the warehouse and grouping them based on shared characteristics. This means you can have multiple zones based on attributes like product sizes, types and velocity. Therefore, the warehouse space needs to be neatly organised to store similar products together in the same area.
When you have dedicated spaces to store your products, you can streamline the putaway and retrieval processes including order picking. This makes it easier to sort and store inventory in dedicated spaces after the warehouse receives them.
You can assign one picker to pick multiple items from the same zone. This saves time and increases efficiency. Let’s see exactly how.
A. Improving Efficiency
When the items are in dedicated storage zones, it can significantly improve efficiency. It does so by reducing travel time and movement. Now you don’t have to move between multiple locations inside the warehouse to store or retrieve inventory. You can do it in a single trip. Therefore, you will save a lot of time and won’t have to travel a lot inside the warehouse.
B. Enhancing Safety and Security
Warehouse zoning allows you to keep high-value items in a separate space altogether. This helps to maintain better safety and security. For instance, you can store flammable fluids or corrosive materials in a separate section of the warehouse. It ensures that you abide by safety measures and also prevents leakages and fires. It will help to protect your warehouse.
Also, if you have warehouse zone picking areas that have security cages, you can easily store high-value items. This will help you to prevent theft and tampering.
C. Reducing Product Waste
Zone picking makes it easier to assign dedicated areas for items that need storage due to special conditions. For instance, you may need refrigerated zones for items that must be in low temperatures. This will prevent the food from going bad.
Likewise, dry storage zones can keep the moisture away. As a result, you face lower risks of product wastage which can otherwise cause huge losses to your business.
All of these depend on variables of zone picking in warehouses. Let’s see what those are.
Zone Picking Variables
All “pick and pass” strategies are not the same as not all warehouses are the same. Warehouse layout, equipment, staffing and product mix all affect operations and consequently picking. There are a few key factors to consider:
1. Number of Segments or Zones
Factors like warehouse size and the number of SKUs are some of the requirements that help determine the optimal number of zones and how to segment them.
For instance, you can define zones by product type or sales velocity. Also, the larger warehouses, the more SKUs, and the more zones you may need. Ensure that the zones are appropriate for your warehouse operations.
Here are some questions you must take into account-
- Is it crucial for zones to offer flexibility when it comes to product placement?
- Can a zone support more than one picker at a time?
- Can you easily change zone boundaries as needed?
This brings us to the next factor.
2. Storage Policy
Defining the zones is one task, deciding how to store SKUs within those zones is another. Luckily, there are several common ways to store products. Each of them can affect the zone-picking strategy.
3. Storing by Sales Velocity
This phenomenon helps to separate the products based on how fast they sell. For instance, the fastest sellers are at one end of the aisle and the slowest ones are at the other end. Storing by sales velocity within a zone causes less travel time.
4. Storing by Product Type
This means putting items together depending on their sizes or shapes. It helps to make the most out of the racking space. You can create a zone for bulk or large items and another one for small items. There is another option to store your items that are frequently ordered in tandem.
5. Storing by Random Locations
This helps to cut putaway times as teams can place inventory anywhere. But a random warehouse will slow picker down as it has no logic or patterns. Random storage also results in the loss of advantage of zone pickers who become specialised in their zone thus increasing efficiency.
6. Equipment
Warehouse equipment and technology will play a role in assessing an optimal picking strategy. For instance, more complex warehouse operations may have conveyors that send products from zone to zone before depositing all items in the storage area. Other warehouse operations may also have workers manually pass a cart with multiple totes from one zone to the next.
7. Staffing
It depends on your order inflows. It can change on a seasonal basis. When there is a high order volume, you may need two or more pickers for a single zone. You will also need fast-moving SKUs to increase the picking speed.
8. Shortcuts
Totes usually move from one zone to another in a set pattern. But not every order will need SKUs from every zone. Warehouses can allow totes to go through shortcuts and skip unnecessary zones.
With these variables, companies and s can master the picking process. All they need to do is follow the right methods.
Methodology of Pick and Pass
All forms of these picking processes constitute getting products from point A to point B. Here’s how that happens:
- Vehicle-Based Picking: It uses equipment with wheels like rolling carts to transport goods. This is typically an inexpensive method. It is also flexible. As the vehicles do not have a fixed location, they can be re-routed as needed.
- Conveyor-Based Picking: This is more complex among the warehouse order picking methods. Pickers can place items on a conveyor belt that moves from one to the next before being deposited in the packing area. You place the items on the conveyor, each having a barcode.
Upon arriving at the zone, the barcode gets scanned then the right quantity of the right items is out in the right tote. This type of picking makes it possible to move a high volume of products.
- Goods-to-Person Picking: This uses technology like carousels or robotic pickers that can significantly boost pick rates. Generally, each zone will have a carousel or robotic pick that presents the correct SKU to the picker. Then they collect it and place it in the proper carton.
All these zone picking methods offer a lot of benefits to the warehouse. Check them out.
Benefits of Zone Picking
The advantages include:
- Increased Flexibility: Warehouse zones adapt to specific needs, allowing different picking methods and equipment for optimal efficiency. This means zones can use single or batch picking, or even specialised equipment for specific aisles.
- Reduced Travel Time: As pickers stay in a single zone, they do not have to repeatedly travel. This reduces time.
- Reduced Warehouse Congestion: As workers stay in their zones, there’s less aisle congestion. It reduces bottlenecks.
- Increased Productivity: Reduced travel times and less congestion contribute to greater productivity. With picking methods multiple pickers can fulfil an order at a time. They can pick up more products during a single shift.
FAQs: A Guide to Implementing Zone Picking in Your Warehouse
What is the difference between zone and batch picking?
The first one divides the warehouse into zones. Pickers are assigned to each one. On the other hand, batch picking means a picker collecting multiple orders at hand in a single pass.
When is zone pick beneficial?
Large warehouses with bulk orders can benefit from this process. It reduces travel time and allows specialised picking methods.
How are zones typically determined?
Zones are often based on product type (fast-moving vs. bulky), picking requirements (specialised equipment), or order size (batch picking for large orders).
Conclusion
Zone picking unlocks significant efficiency gains, especially for large warehouses with diverse products. By dividing your space and assigning dedicated pickers, you can reduce travel time, optimise operations and enhance safety. Ready to streamline your warehouse operations? Contact Qodenext, supply chain experts, for tailored solutions.
